Carson began his career experimenting with graphic design and becoming interested in the bohemian and artistic culture and feel of California. Carson created his own personal style, he created a style using 'dirty' type face and unique design techniques, making his work edgy and original. Later because of his new found style Carson was known as the father of grunge. Transworld Skateboarding magazine was the magazine that Carson worked for as Art Director. Aswell as working for a surfing magazine, Carson was also in fact a professional surfer and in 1989 he was named 9th best surfer in the world. Carson also designed Beach Culture which came from the annual supplement. Only six quarterly magazines were issued, it was this work by Carson that made him a well known graphic designer. Even people who didnt support his work and efforts were calling him innovative.
Carson eventaully was hired to design Ray Gun by Marvin Scott Jarrett a publisher. This magazine was aimed towards a type of lifestyle and music. Carson was not afraid to let his ideas come through, no matter what other people said, he was an individual. Being a designer for this magazine made Carson very well known. Carson was featured in May 1994 in the New York Times and in 1996 in Newsweek for his work on this magazine, this also made him more well known and increased his publicity. Eventually in 1995 Carson founded his first studio in New York City called the David Carson Design. People from all over the country were attracted to his work and between the years of 1995 and 1998 Carson worked for big name companies such as Pepsi Cola, Ray Ban, Budweiser, Giorgio Armani, American Airlines, Nike, Microsoft, NBC, Levi Jeans, Kodak, Packard, Lycra, British Airways and AT&T. Later on he worked for Dell, Toyota, Sony, Warner Bros, Cuervo Gold, CNN, Suzuki, MTV, Princo, Johnson AIDS Foundation, Fox TV, Lotus Software, Quicksilver, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Intel, Nine Inch Nails, and MGM studios. He was also a design consultant for the tourist magazine Blue in 1997.
In 2000 Carson opened another studio, a personal studio though in South Carolina. Four years later Carson became the Creative Director of Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston and still designed special editions for surfing magazines, as well as creating a television ad for UMPGUA bank in Seattle Washington.
Carson is known for creating and making known the style of typography and photography based graphic design. he was an inspiration in the 1990's to many young aspiring graphic designers. He is not a traditional artist, he works on his own terms and creates innovative design standards. Carson is very emotionally involved in his work, he puts his heart and soul into every project he has done and thinks very deeply and thoroughly through his ideas and become lost in the subconscious. Carson can always create the feel and idea behind all of his designs. Many people today have changed their work to be more like Carsons work. With his combinations of photography and typography he has craeted and distinguished himself as unique.
Although Carson has many followers, like any designer he has recieved criticism. Carson was a huge influence on modern graphic design within the past twenty five years. he took photography and typology as twisted them, manipulating a new kind of graphic and conveying the message in a new way that draws the viewer in and forces them to htink deeply into the image.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carson_(graphic_designer)